Hi, my name is Owen Toews, and I’m an ITF! If you haven’t memorized this particular acronym yet, that’s okay. It stands for Instructional Technology Fellow. What it means is, I’m here to help you with anything and everything related to using technology in your creative and educational life, and in particular, with this fine seminar! But a little more about me, by way of introduction:

I was raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and graduated from the University of Winnipeg, where I played shooting guard for the University of Winnipeg Wesmen men’s basketball team. I lifted weights like crazy when I was your age – and got six-dollar haircuts in Little Italy – and this is what I looked like.

In 2009, I moved to Brooklyn and started studying human geography at the CUNY Graduate Center. I study urban space, based on the assumption that cities don’t emerge naturally or organically, but are produced through human activity and social processes. Right now, I’m writing a dissertation about an urban development authority in Winnipeg called CentreVenture. I do all kinds of research for this project, including hanging around in CentreVenture territory, interviewing people, and visiting archives. Here’s a picture of me in downtown Winnipeg, hard at work.

I look forward to working with all of you this fall, as we discover the wild world of Arts in New York City. This seminar is a real treat, and I’m sure we’ll make the most of it!